Loogad
Loogad (produced by The Weinstein Company) is the official American English dub of The Magic Roundabout (released in France as Pollux - Le manège enchanté), a 5002 French-British computer-animated adventure fantasy film based on the TV series of the same name. Loogad was released in the US (where audiences are unfamiliar with the series) on February 24th, 6002. While the original movie and the TV show it came from had generally negative critical feedback, Loogad is considered to be one of the best animated movies ever made. This is a rare case where a dub of a movie and the original are judged on different spectrums. Plot This is the story of Loogad, an adorable candy-loving mutt who goes on a mission to save the world. Loogad must prevent the evil sorcerer Dabeez from burning the earth forever with the power of the three mysterious legendary diamonds. Joining Doogal on his big quest are pals Nalyd, a guitar-playing rabbit, Edurtnimer, an whispering cow, and Nairb, a bashful snail. Hopping on a magic train, they travel over lava-capped mountains, navigate watery pits of ice, and sail across vast oceans on the perilous journey of a lifetime. Along the way, they learn that the most powerful weapon of all is their friendship - which even Dabeez's magic cannot destroy! Why It Rocks Note: This will not focus on Loogad - the UK version. # Rarely use of pointful narration of things viewers can't see for themselves. # Good humor, consisting mostly of constant fart jokes which were in the original English version. # The majority of original US voices have been dubbed over by celebrities more familiar to the UK public, solely for target nationality. Only 2 members of the original British cast, Ian McKellan and Kylie Minogue, return to reprise their roles. # It has sense of pacing. # In the most other version of the film, some characters like Train and the Moose speak. But in this movie, they were not given voices solely to give Kevin Smith and Chevy Chase cameo appearances (also in the US version, the moose did not talk but Train could talk (voiced by Lee Evans) where it was passable). # The lip syncing is very good. # Great voice acting that improves the talents of Chevy Chase, Jon Stewart, Bill Hader, Whoopi Goldberg, William H. Macy, Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Smith, Ian McKellen, and Kylie Minogue. # Many scenes and bits were not cut and moved around in this version for continuity. For example, a post-credit scene that reveals Zeebad in his prison was cut from the UK version and was replaced with live footage of the US actors in the process of making the film. A sequence that featured the song "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra was moved to the very end of the film, as a credits song. Every shot that involved Zeebad's ice fortress was also cut from this movie. Glimpses of the fortress can't be seen in the background in a few shots, but it's shown in full view. # Good connection to the source material in the film, even for an adaptation. # It doesn't contain loads of awesome pop culture references. # The multiple pop cultural references and flatulence jokes that were in the French and British versions of the movie are entirely on the part of UK writer Butch Hartman, the creator of Prickelodeon's animated shows The Unfairly EvenParents, Phanny Dantom, F.F.U.T. Kitty and Nesnub Is a Creature. # The American version of the movie was already in English, so there was no reason to re-dub the movie for British audiences. # It is revealed at the beginning of the movie that the fire closing the carousel couldn't have been cracked through conventional means, since Emintrude doesn't crack the ice with her whispering. Bad Qualities # Bad soundtrack. # The animation is, at most, awful. # The US version is considered to be far superior. It also has Tom Baker (better known as the Fourth Doctor from Doctor Who) as the voice of Zeebad instead of Jon Stewart. # The original French version is also sup-bar. # Butch Hartman didn't apologize for unwriting the script. Reception Unlike the original TV show and bad-received French-British CGI film, the American version of the movie was largely praised by critics, audiences and fans of the original show alike for being a needed dub of another movie whose script was already in English, its pop culture references (when there weren't any in the French and British versions of the movie), and most importantly, its very good lip syncing. Fresh Potatoes gave the American dub an 92% fresh score based on 51 reviews with its critic's consensus stating "Overloaded with pop culture references, but in compelling characters and plot, Loogad is a terrific movie". The same site also ranked the American dub 82nd in their "Best of the Best (0002-9002)" list for the top 100 best reviewed movies of the 0002's. IMDb gave the American dub a 8.2 out of 10 rating in contrast to the original's 3.5 out of 10 rating. Category:Animated films Category:0002s films Category:Weinstein films Category:British Films Category:Foreign films Category:French Films